Introduction

This posting has been prompted by the question of one of our readers? Mary asks:

”I was told by some people that they can’t pay tithe because it is not mentioned in the New Testament, i.e., it is part of the Old Testament Law and not meant for “grace” people like us. I can’t remember seeing it myself in the N.T.Is that the case? If so how do you respond to that?

First of all Mary, tithing is mentioned in the New Testament. Even then the question of its applicability still holds since in all the instances that tithing is mentioned in both Testaments it appears to be a Jewish/Old Testament practice that may therefore not carry forward to the church today.
In answering the question we will first of all define tithing, then look at how it is discussed in both the New and the Old Testaments, and finally determine whether the scarce mention of tithing in the New Testament implies that the practice is irrelevant today.

Definition of “Tithe”

That the term tithe translates to tenth or ten percent makes sense if we are aware that, according to the Merrian-Webster’s dictionary, the word tithe is traceable to the old English word teogotha which means tenth. Furthermore both the Hebrew (maasar) and Greek (dekate) words that are rendered tithe by our English Bible carry within them the word ten. The term for ten is deka in Greek and asar in Hebrew.
The meaning of tithe aside, how is tithe or tithing discussed in both the Old and New Testaments?

Tithing in the Old Testament

Mention of Incidences of tithing
a) Gen 14:20
A war involving Sodom, the adopted home of Lot, results in the capture of Lot among others. When word about Lot’s capture reaches his uncle Abram, Abram mobilizes an operation dubbed “rescue Lot.” With the mission accomplished, Abram returns home and is met by Melchisedek. It is during this encounter that Abram offers a tithe.
b) Gen 28:20-22
Jacob working under the instruction of his mother Rebekkah succeeds in stealing the blessings that rightly belonged to Esau. Isaac is deceived into granting deathbed blessings to Jacob instead of Esau. When Esau discovers his loss, he vows revenge. Naturally Jacob, the target of the vendetta, opts to flee to Laban’s den in Haran. Since Haran was a distance away, Jacob stopped to catch some sleep. While asleep, he experiences a dream. He wakes up and utters a vow: he will tithe a tenth form what God gives to him.

Divine Regulations concerning tithe or tithing
(a) Lev 27:30-32: The tithe belongs to the Lord
(b) Num 18:21: The tithes are meant for the Levites in exchange for their temple service
(c) Deut 12:6; 14:28: Tithes are to be brought to God’s dwelling place

The Practice of Tithing Falls by the Wayside and then is Revived
(a) 2 Chron 31
At the end of 2 Chron 28 we are told that King Ahaz suspended all temple operations by shutting the temple down. When Hezekiah ascended the throne, he reversed all these. He re-consecrated the temple and its staff in 29:3-19. He calls for the observation of the Passover in chap. 30. What else does he reinstall? Tithing (2 Chron 31:11)
(b) Neh 10:37; 13:12
Chapter 10 is an Ezra-led declaration of the people’s commitment to live by the law. Part of the commitment is the reinstatement of tithing.

Withholding the tithes equated with robbery; bringing the tithe tied to abundant blessings
Mal 3:8-11: “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ “In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse — the whole nation of you — because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,” says the LORD Almighty.

Tithing in the New Testament

Mention of an Incident of tithing
Luke 18:12: The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men — robbers, evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

Jesus does not fault the Pharisees and teachers of Law for Practicing Tithing
What he faults them for is their neglect of justice and the love of God (cf. Matt 23:23)

Is Tithing Applicable Today

Even though tithing is mentioned only a handful of times in the New Testament, does it mean that it is therefore no longer applicable today?
First of all, there is no evidence that the Scriptures prohibit the continuation of the practice. Jesus made mention of the practice without condemning or rendering it abolete. At the same time, it ought to give us pause that, beyond the three references in the Gospels, the word tithe or tithing is never again mentioned in the New Testament. References to tithing during the church age appear not in the New Testament but later on in the writings of the church fathers (e.g., Constitution of the Holy Apostles [325AD]:“wherefore you ought to love the bishop as your father, and fear him as your king and honor him …giving to him your … tithes) or in decrees by church councils (e.g., the council of Trent [1550]: “The payment of tithes is due to God, and they who refuse to pay them or hinder those who give them usurp the property of another…they who either withhold or hinder them shall be excommunicated..”)
Secondly, even though tithing is never again mentioned in the New Testament after the Gospels, the principle of tithing in the sense of the people of God catering for the needs and upkeep of the minister is cited over and over again in the Epistles and is certainly relevant and applicable today. First Corinthians 9: 13-14 is one such citation: Don’t you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.
Thirdly, the emphasis in the Epistles when it comes to supplying the needs of the minister is not on percentage seeing that the word tithe or tithing is never mentioned there. The emphasis is on individual-motivated, generous, cheerful, voluntary giving (1 Cor 9:7).